Turkish Delight: Rockets' Alperen Sengün Holds Own Against Nikola Jokić

Sunday's World Cup qualifying action saw the Rockets' first-round choice go toe-to-toe with the two-time defending MVP.

Photo by Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

At 20 years old and representing the best Turkish basketball has to offer, Alperen Sungün already had a lot to worry about in his post-Houston Rockets affairs with his homeland's national team in the European leg of FIBA World Cup qualifying action in Istanbul. To top it all off, he faced the gargantuan task of facing off against two-time defending NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, who was repping Serbia in a Sunday showdown. 

Turkey failed to secure the upset. But somehow, someway, the 16th overall pick of the 2021 draft came out clean on the other side. 

While Jokic predictably took center stage in the 79-72 win (24-points, 10-rebounds), Sengün held his own to the tune of his own double-double, earning 17 points and 13 boards. His efforts helped the Turks stage a comeback after facing a 19-point deficit at the halftime break. They even tied the game in the late stages of the fourth before Serbia embarked on a 7-0 run over the final 1:37 to conclude the contest. 

Sengün averaged 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in his first year in red after coming over in a draft night trade with Oklahoma City. Perhaps most inspiring was his performance from the foul line: after averaging 71 percent from the line last season, Sengün sank 8-of-9 from the charity stripe in helping spark the comeback. 

Turkish head coach Ergin Ataman, while upset over the officiating in the latter stages of the game, was particularly pleased with the way Sengün teamed up with Sertaç Şanlı to guard Denver's Jokic in the second half.

“In the first part, we didn’t start well, especially in defense. We had a big problem in stopping Jokic," Ataman declared to Eurohoops. "In the second half, we changed strategy. We played with two bigs – Sertaç Şanlı and Alperen Sengun – together and we started playing aggressive defense on Jokic. We started to trap him and became aggressive against their point guards.”

With the loss, Turkey fell to 2-4 and is currently one point out of advancement in Group I play in European qualifiers. They'll next face the Belgians on Nov. 10, though Sengün might be a bit busy: he and the Rockets will be in the midst of a four-game road trip. 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags 

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